Pablo Romero Rey
My name is Pablo Romero Rey and I’m a digital transformation expert. I’ve worked as a consultant at companies such as Iberia, Mapfre, and Telefónica, where I’ve been able to apply my knowledge of big data, business architecture, and change management. I have over 20 years of experience in different sectors, and I’ve helped many companies create value propositions, obtain competitive advantages, and adapt to the age of digitalization.
"Once you discover that there are other worlds beyond the one you know and you see that you like it and you can provide value, something inside you makes you think about leaving behind your comfort zone and listening to the market."
Although he was at a comfortable place in his career, Pablo Romero Rey decided that it was time to reinvent himself, and in the middle of the pandemic he returned to the classroom. His time at IE not only helped him complement his professional profile, but it motivated him to make an important change in his profession.
Why did you decide to further your education at IE?
When you’ve been working for 20 years and you have kids, as is my case, it’s easy to forget that time goes by fast and that it may be time to get yourself up to speed. You learn a lot at work, but sometimes you need to go further, to close your eyes and feel young again, like when you were at university. That means having new classmates and teachers and continuing to learn outside the work environment, where, in general, you’re in your comfort zone. And, if you’re going to do that, it’s obviously best to do it at an institution of renowned prestige and to study a modern field that complements your professional experience.
Do you think that your time at IE has changed your focus in your career?
Without a doubt. I’ve always been linked professionally to the world of digital transformation, specifically the processes part, and I was missing something that would allow me to have a broader, more modern perspective in the field of business digitalization, and Big Data is just that. This is an area where there wasn’t a lot of demand a few years ago, but now there is.
Before, the problem wasn’t that there was no data, but that we didn’t know what to do with it. Now there’s a lot more, and there’s a real need to make decisions based on what this data is telling us, and there are ways to do that. You just have to know how.
What is your current professional status?
If you had asked me a year ago where I would be one year later, I would have said at the same company, doing the same thing, with the same colleagues. At a certain age, with family responsibilities, and in your professional comfort zone, people generally don’t make big changes. However, once you discover that there are other worlds beyond the one you know and you see that you like it and you can provide value, something inside you makes you think about leaving behind your comfort zone and listening to the market, as was my case. Before the program ended, I changed companies, almost without thinking about it. Now I’m still doing what I did before, but in a more modern area that has more demand, fully related to Big Data.
What is the most valuable lesson you learned during the program? Do you have any inspiring stories you’d like to share with your classmates?
The most valuable lesson I learned is that even when you’re almost 50 and in the middle of a pandemic, if you want to do something and you’re motivated, you can. Logically, it would have been easier to connect to the classes on Zoom, but I needed physical contact in the classroom with my professors and classmates. I needed to do things like have coffee or go have lunch with them.
That’s why, from the very beginning, I decided to go to class in person when the pandemic allowed it, even though some days I had to almost run home to make it back before curfew. Except for the Saturday when we had that big snowstorm, I went to class in person every day, and I was actually the only one in the program who was there every day.